


maps of stars

by bitch of a witch (grace_the_ace)



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: M/M, Magic, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-18
Updated: 2016-12-18
Packaged: 2018-09-09 10:16:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8887072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grace_the_ace/pseuds/bitch%20of%20a%20witch
Summary: Dan was literally only looking for a flat and a flatmate to share it with. He somehow stumbled onto an entirely different world.





	

The silence of the living room was heavy, laying a weight over its inhabitants' shoulders like a bulletproof vest.  
Dan's intense staring contest with the upside down reflection in his spoon was interrupted by the ring of the telephone.  
"I've got it!" he yelled, immediately wincing at how loud he spoke in the empty silence. He ran to the phone in the hall, hoping it was one of the apartments he had inquired about.  
"Hello?" Dan wrinkled his nose at how out of breath he was, just from running to the phone.  
"Hello! Is this Dan Howell speaking?" a voice tinged with a blatant American accent rang out.  
"Yeah, who is this?"  
"My name is Kyle. We spoke about that apartment a couple weeks ago. I'm calling to see if you're still interested under the same conditions we talked about then."  
Dan's eyes went wide as he brought a hand up to his mouth.  
"You still there, Dan?"  
_Oh, shit._  
"Yes! Yes, of course! I mean, of course I'm still interested." He breathed out a sigh of relief. The flat offer couldn't have come at a better time: his mother was beginning to leave newspapers open to the available for rent page where she knew he would find them.  
Kyle and Dan continued talking for a few more minutes, sorting out details for meeting in London in a few days to sign papers. Dan ended the call, standing still and taking in the knowledge that in less than a week he would be moving to London, out of the house and out of his mum's hair.  
"Who was that?"  
Dan startled, whirling around like a mad man with his hand clutched to his chest.  
"Jesus Christ, don't scare me like that!"  
His mum frowned.  
"Well? Who was it?"  
"The man who owns that flat I looked at a while ago." Dan cut off his thoughts abruptly, eyes darting around the suddenly stifling hallway. He didn't need to go on.  
"Ah," she paused, gathering her thoughts, "I'm glad you're finally getting this together. When--"  
"Thursday." Dan's eyes settled on a spot above her left shoulder as he crossed his arms.  
"That soon. I see." She sighed. "I don't suppose moving out will take much longer either, then."  
He stiffened. "As long as it takes to pack."  
"Oh."  
They stood in awkward silence for a moment. Dan opened his mouth to say something, anything to break the silence that always seemed to fall on their house, only to get the air knocked out of him as his mum stepped forward to hug him hard.  
"Mum?"  
She squeezed once and let go, wiping the one tear that made its way out of her eye. "You know what's best for yourself. Just promise me-- promise me you'll be careful. London's a city with deeper shadows than most."  
On that note, she turned and left the cramped hallway, heading to the kitchen. Dan stood for a minute, running through their odd conversation in his head. He mentally tossed it aside, and headed upstairs to the privacy of his room.  
The memory of that conversation had been pushed to the very back of Dan's mind by the time moving day rolled around. As he rushed out the door to catch his train, his stuff already on its way to London in a moving van, his mother followed him out the door.  
"Let me drive you to the station." She shifted awkwardly, rubbing her hand on her arm. "Just-- let me do this one last thing. For me. Not for you."  
Dan stopped to think for a second, only to nod half a second later. He didn't have the time to think any deeper about this. London beckoned with his hopes and dreams held in her clutches. His mum pulled the front door shut behind her, walking to the car.  
The drive to the station was spent largely in silence. Sometimes Dan would open his mouth to say something, and sometimes his mum would. Neither of them ever said a word, not until they were stopped in the parking lot. Dan broke the silence.  
"This is where I get out, Mum."  
"Quite right."  
They sat in silence for another minute, both mulling over heavy thoughts and words never spoken. Dan's mum reached in the back seat and pulled out a dusty ornate box.  
"I want you to have this."  
His brow furrowed. "Not to be rude, but. Why?"  
"It was my mother's. She wanted you specifically to have it."  
"Your mother? My grandmother? Are we talking about the same woman here?"  
"Not the grandmother you know." She drifted off in her thoughts for a moment. "I was adopted, left at an agency with this box and a letter for me with instructions not to open until I got married."  
Dan gaped at her, caught more by the adoption comment than by the box comment.  
"Why-- Why didn't you ever say anything?"  
"There was never a proper time, and it never really mattered, not until today. The letter, while yes, mainly to me, also contained instructions for the box. This box is for you, Dan. I don't know how my birth mother knew you would exist, but she did, and here we are." She blew some of the dust off the box, only to place it in Dan's lap. Dan was still frozen in shock, just looking at her.  
The moment was broken when his phone went off, yelling at him to get to his train on time. Dan startled out of his frozen state, only to panic a little at the thought of missing his train. He hurriedly kissed his mum on the cheek, grabbed his bag and his new, confusing box, and hightailed it out of the car, only relaxing when he made it onto the train right before it pulled away. Dan was London bound, on his way to things he never saw coming.

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first ever published fic wow i h8. don't worry we'll get to the magic very soon i realize this is very short finals happened and i decided to post this first chapter completely unbetaed because i'm so fricken razzed. find on my brand spankin new side blog @ witchypan.tumblr.com that title came completely from my VERY anonymous asks to someone who encouraged me to write this (follow them @ darkphannie.tumblr.com ) anyways hope you enjoyed i promise i'll try to make the next one longer and better


End file.
